Month: September 2016

This is the story of Luna, I wanted to share this as she changed my life. My memory is also horrendous so this is also a little reminder for me to look back on.

I have always been an advocate for adopting & rescuing animals. There are so many waiting in shelters for a loving home, please consider it if you are thinking of buying an animal.

So the story begins when Ben and I first moved into our home. I knew I wanted to rescue an older cat. Having grown up with three, a house is not a home to me without a furry face.

As we live by a busy main road with a communal garden we decided it wouldn’t be fair to have a young cat. And so off we went to our local animal shelter, asking to meet any elderly, disabled cats needing indoor only homes.

It was then we fell completely in love with little Luna. Renamed by us as she was Salem, (yikes!). At 15 years old, completely blind with failing kidneys, high blood pressure and hardly any teeth Luna came home with us that day.

You may be reading this thinking erm…really? But I promise you, if you had seen her sad, little face bumping into the walls in her tiny room at the shelter you would understand.

She completed our home, her quirky ways and adorable cuddly personality filled our lives with more love than I could imagine.

Luna had lived with an elderly gentlemen all her life, he then unfortunately passed away and she was found wandering the garden crying for food by neighbours. I was worried she would be frightened and resentful towards the drastic changes occurring, but she was fantastic.

Despite being blind she mastered our house in under four days. It was incredible to watch her learn, mapping the house with her whiskers over and over. Step by step she discovered the stairs, learning to eventually run down them, much to our amazement.

She even enjoyed little adventures outside in the summer, I let her walk me (very slowly) using a cat hardness. Which my neighbours probably thought was ridiculous to watch.

She was however the most vocal cat I have ever met, although the sleep deprivation was not welcomed it became hilariously clear why they named her Salem! She would yowl all night, which we soon discovered was feline dementia (who knew that existed?).

We had an amazing year with Luna, she then unfortunately very suddenly became unwell. Within 24 hours she was put to sleep in my arms and I have never been more heartbroken.

It has taken me a long time to fully heal from loosing her, this happened in February. It may sound pathetic to some, but I love animals more than most people (not sorry).

I am so glad we chose Luna. We now look back positively and can say we gave her a loving home to live the last year of her life in. I wouldn’t have changed a thing.

Please consider an older cat, in Luna’s honour I wanted to share our positive experience to encourage others not to be put off by elderly cats. Luna required daily medication, however much to our delight and surprise the shelter (Foal Farm Animal Rescue) provided this for free as it was an existing medical condition.

We have also recently adopted another cat… but thats a whole new story for another time.